Oil cleaner for automobile engines



Oct. 2, 1928. 1,686,304

J F. WELLS OIL CLEANER FOR AUTOMOBILE ENGINES Original Filed Nov. 26, 1924 PIPE T0 CRANK CASE F r 5 3 @MEs-FHQALS Wi 5 %1 I J I Patented Oct. 2, 1928.

UNITED STATES JAMES F. WELLS, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

OIL CLEANER FOR AUTOMOBILE ENGINES.

Application filed November 26, 1924, Serial No. 752,473. Renewed August 10, 1928.

The present invention appertains to an attachment for internal combustion engines and aims to provide a structure capable of efliciency freeing the engine oil of foreign matter and particularly of Water and gasoline or other fuel which may be used. it is well known that the lubricating oil in the crank case of an internal combustion engine becomes diluted because of the fuel such as gasoline which may pass down the cylinder wall by the piston ring and sometimes by water from the cooling system of the engine.

By passing the oil through the attachment which I am about to describe in detail it can be freed from such fuel and water as may become mixed therewith thus greatly increasing the useful life of the lubricant and also decreasing the wear of the moving part of the engine.

Another very important object of the invention is to provide an attachment of this nature which can be incorporated in the common form of internal combustion engine used in automobiles very easily without the necessity of making any radical changes in the lubricating system used with the particular engine.

A still further very important object of the invention is to provide an attachment of this nature having a very simple and effective structure, one which is reliable, inexpensive to manufacture and install, durable, and well adapted to the purpose for which it is designed.

With the above and numerous other objects in view as will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in certain novel features of construction, and in the combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a sectional view taken vertically through the attachment showing also a portion of an exhaust manifold,

Figure 2 is a horizontal section through the upper chamber thereof looking downwardly, and

Figure 3 is a section through the distributing pan in the upper chamber.

Referring to the drawing in detail wherein similar reference characters relate to like parts throughout the several views, it will be seen that 1 designates the intermediate cooling chamber which in the present instance is cylindrical in formation and has connected to its upper end the top chamber 2 and at its bottom end the bottom chamber 3. Partitions 4 and 5 are provided at the ends of the intermediate chamber 1 and are constructed with a plurality of openings in which are disposed the ends of tubes 6. The partition 4 sepa rates the intermediate chamber 1 from the upper chamber 2 while the partition 5 separates the intermediate chamber from the bottom chamber. A pipe 8 coinmunicates'with one side of the chamber 1 and preferably leads from the water pump of the cooling system of an internal combustion engine and another pipe 9 leads from the other side of the chamber to the water jacket of the internal combustion engine.

An exhaust manifold M is shown in the illustration alongside of the upper chamber 2. A pipe 10 passes through this exhaust manifold M and is connected with the upper chamber 2. The lubricant is pumped through this pipe 10 in any suitable manner and preferably by the oil pump of the internal combustion engine to which this device is attached. A pan 11 of smaller diameter or area than the chamber 2 is disposed in the chamber 2 a little above partition 4 being held in place by means of rivets 12 or in any other suitable manner. This pan is situated immediately below the entrance of the pipe 10 into the chamber 2. The pan is provided with a peripheral annular upstanding flange 13 and also with a plurality of ridges or ribs 1 1. At

the top of the chamber 2 there is ea pipe 15 which leads to the intake manifold of the internal combustion engine. A pipe 16 is connected to and enters the upper portion of the lower or trap chamber 3.

The water passing through the pipes 8 and 9 and through the intermediate chamber 1 tends to cool the tubes 6 and of course the contents thereof. The lubricant is pumped through the pipe 10 being heated as it passes through the manifold M thereby causing the fuel such as gasoline and water to evaporate into a gaseous state. Thus the oil and the gases will be led to the an 11 and distributed thereover thus affording time so that the gases may escape from the oil and pass up through the pipe 15 leading to the intake manifold of the engine. The oil overflows from this pan 11 and passes through the tubes 6 to be thoroughly cooled and fills the chamher 3. The oil in the chamber 3 will be led from the top thereof through the pipe 16 back into the crank case and of course while the oil is in the chamber 3 there is ample time for foreign matter of a. solid nature to settle to the bottom of this top chamber 3 from which it may be cleaned at suitable intervals.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that I have devised a lubricating cleaning device having a novel construction which may be cheaply manufactured and installed and be effective under all conditions and not liable to readily get out of order.

This novel and useful construction of an automobile oil cleanser embodies the features of advantage enumerated as desirable in the statement of the invention and the above description, and while I have in the present instance shown and described a preferred embodimentof it which will give in practice satisfactory and reliable results, it is to be understood that the same is susceptible of modification in various particulars without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed or sacrificing any of its advantages.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is:

1. An oil cleaning attachment for an internal combustion engine consisting of an intermediate chamber, an upper chamber, a lower chamber, cooling means in the intermediate chamber, distributing means in the upper chamber, means for heating the oil and feeding it to the upper chamber to the distributing means, and means for leading the oil from the bottom chamber back to the crank case of the engine.

2. An attachment for cleaning the lubricating oil of an internal combustion engine consisting of an upper chamber having a distributing pan therein, an intermediate chamber below the upper chamber and a bot-tom chamber, cooling means in the intermediate chamber, a pipe leading from the top of the bottom chamber so as to form a trap in which solid matter may be. precipitated from the oil, and means for heating the oil and leadin it int-o the upper chamber on to the distri uting pan.

3. An attachment for cleaning the lubricating oil of an internal combustion engine consisting of an upper chamber having a distributing pan therein, an intermediate chamber below the upper chamber and a bottom chamber, cooling means in the intermediate chamber, a pipe leading from the top of the bottom chamber so as to form a trap in which solid matter may be precipitated from the oil, means for heating the oil and leading it into the upper chamber on to the distributing pan, and means for drawing the vapor from the upper chamber.

4. In an attachment for internal combustion engines consisting of an intermediate chamber having an apertured partition at each end thereof, a plurality of tubes disposed longitudinally of the chamber and terminating in the apertured partitions, pipes communicating with the intermediate chamber so that water may be passed therethrough from the cooling system of the internal combustion engine, an upper chamber, a distributing pan in the upper chamber abovethe upper partition oft e intermediate chamber, a pipe passing through the internal combustion engines exhaust manifold so as to heat the oil passing therethrough and vaporize the fuel or water mixed with the oil and deliver it to the distributing pan allowing the vapors to then free themselves somehow, means for passing oil the vapors from the upper chamber, a lower chamber at the bottom of the intermediate chamber so that the oil may pass through the tubes of the intermediate chamber to cool and collect in the lower chamber giving an opportunity for solid matter to recipitate to the bottom of the lower cham er, and means for leading the oil from the top of the bottom chamber.

5. In an attachment for internal combustion engines consisting of an intermediate chamber having an apertured partition at each end thereof, a plurality of tubes disposed longitudinally of the chamber and terminating in the apertured partitions, pipes communicating with the intermediate chamber so that water may be passed therethrough from the cooling system of the internal combustion engine, an upper chamber, a distributing pan in the upper chamber above the upper partition of the intermediate chamber, a pipe passing through the internal combustion engines exhaust manifold so as to heat the oil passing therethrough and vaporize the fuel or water mixed with the oil and deliver it to the distributing pan allowing the vapors to then free themselves somehow,

means for passing off the vapors from the upper chamber, a lower chamber at the bottom of the intermediate chamber so that the oil may pass through the tubes of the intermediate chamber and be cooled and collect in the lower chamber giving an opportunity for solid matter to precipitate to the bottom of the lower chamber, and means for leading the oil from the top of the bottom chamber.

6. In an attachment for internal combustion engines consisting of an intermediate chamber having an apertured partition at each end thereof, a plurality of tubes disposed longitudinally of the chamber and terminating in the apertured partitions, pipes communicating with the intermediate chamber so that water may be passed therethrough from the cooling system of the internal combustion engine, an upper chamber, a distributing pan in the upper chamber above the upper partition of the intermediate chamber, a pipe passing through the internal combustion engines' exhaust manifold so as to heat the oil, passing therethrough and vaporize the fuel or water mixed with the oil and deliver it to the distributing pan allowing the vapors to then free themselves somehow, means for passing ofl the vapors from the upper chamber, a lower chamber at the bottom of the intermediate chamber so that the oil may pass through the tubes of the intermediate chamher and be cooled and collect in the lower chamber giving an opportunity for solid matter to precipitate to the bottom of the lower chamber, means for leading the oil from the top of the bottom chamber, said distributing pan in the upper chamber provided with an annular upstanding peripheral flange.

7. In an attachment for internal combustion engines consisting of an intermediate that water may be passed therethrough from oil passing therethrough and vaporize the fuel or water mixed with the oil and deliver it to the distributing pan allowing the vapors to then free themselves somehow, means for passin off the vapors from the upper chamber, a ower chamber atthe bottom of the intermediate chamber so that the oil may pass through the tubes of the intermediate chamber and be cooled and collect in the lower chamber giving an opportunity for solid matter to precipitate to the bottom of the lower chamber, means for leading the oil from the top of the bottom chamber, said distributing pan in the upper chamber provided with an annular upstanding peripheral flange, and also a plurality of ribs.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

' JAMES F. WELLS. 

